Woof Wednesday: Free Book & What About Pet Vacations?

Leave a special toy or something that smells like you when he's left behind!

Cats and dogs deal with our absences in different ways. Of course they’re very different creatures with different languages, and want different things out of life. In fact, I wrote a book about this–and ComPETability has just gone FREE for 5 days only on Kindle. I hope you’ll share the link with other folks who love both cats and dogs.

I know we’ve just come off of the holidays. Many of y’all got a new puppy for Christmas, though, and aren’t thinking about the next vacation. What will you do with the new little one? It’s always best to plan ahead.

Vacations rate right up there with winning the lottery. Okay, maybe not quite that high, but “time off” from the daily rush makes me feel like a seven year old at Christmas. For pets, though, an owner’s vacation can be anything but fun.

You have several choices: stay home with Sheba and Rex; take the fur-kids along for the ride; find a pet motel willing to board your critter cotillion; or, engage the services of a pet sitter. Each option has benefits and drawbacks, and the best choice depends mostly on your individual pets—and your holiday destination.

Boarding offers good options particularly for well-adjusted canines. You’ll find a number of facilities in our area listed in the yellow pages. A pet sitter comes to your house at predetermined times.

De-Tails Needed

Provide details about the dog’s routine and individual foibles. For instance, Rex may NEED to have a Frisbee session every day at 4 pm, while Sheba MUST have her Kitty Kaviar treat before she’ll eat. Other services may also be available, such as watering plants, picking up the newspaper, or turning lights on and off while you’re gone.

Be sure the pet sitter has the phone numbers to contact you during your trip. Leave emergency information and authorization for veterinary care, if the need should arise.

Finding the Pros

There are two professional “pet sitter” organizations. Other pet sitter professionals may also be available, if you ask around. Check with pet owning friends and your veterinarian or groomer for suggestions. Give one or more of these folks a call to match your particular pet needs. You’ll find more details about vacationing with–or without–your dog in this article. Then, enjoy your vacation in peace!

Do you take your dogs with you on vacation? Or do you engage the services of a pet sitter? Magical-dawg stays with his breeder (oh joy!) and gets to play with the cousins and aunts. What are some tips that help your dog when you must leave him/her behind? Does the dog act upset and snub you when you return, or is the reunion a par-teeeee?! Please share!

#AskAmy Sweet Tweets

Folks who “follow” me on Twitter @amyshojai and @About_Puppies are the most awesome Sweet Tweets around–they love #cats and #dogs and #pets, many #amwriting. Just follow and include the #AskAmy in your tweets if’n you’re interested in pithy links to articles, books, blogs, experts, fictioning and sparkle-icity!

You make some good points, Amy, but finding a suitable place to leave the pups while out of town is problematic in my small town. Not many options and I feel like the vet is too “cold”. It definitely takes a toll on our ability to get away without good pet care available. Still, good points in this post.